Former Footballer Chase Rice Admits He’d Still Like to Pop a Guy or Two

Chase Rice has been listening to a lot of Chase Rice lately. The country rocker says he's trying to perfect his upcoming record, but honestly, he's getting a little tired of listening to himself.

Well, Rice may be getting sick of his music, but fans sure aren't! The 'Ready Set Roll' singer performed at the Taste of Country Music Fest on June 15 to a rowdy and excited crowd, and when he stopped by to talk with Billy Dukes after his set, he sure was feeling the love.

"No joke, it was one of the best Sunday shows we've ever had," said the singer, before moving on to a topic he loves almost as much as country music -- football.

Rice opened up about his time as a UNC football player, his dream to play in the NFL and how sometimes, he still gets the urge to give someone a good hit. "Oh, yeah. Absolutely!" said the singer with a laugh when Dukes asked if he ever gets the urge to pop a guy or two. "I try to get a work out in not for anything other than just getting stress out ... I've grown up everyday being able to get stress out by going out and playing football."

"You know, I saw Chris Young out on tour and he has a boxer out with him ... so I may start doing that!" he adds.

More than anything, though, Rice says that football -- plus his appearance on CBS' 'Survivor' and his stint as a NASCAR pit crew member -- prepared him to be part of the intensely competitive Nashville music scene.

"As much as they're pulling for you, there's just as many people wanting you to fail," he shares. "And wanting you to fail -- it doesn't have anything to do with you -- they're just wanting you to fail so they're better than you. Playing all those other sports and all that other competition that I've been apart of my whole like prepared me to say, 'Cool. You can want me to fail all you want. I'm gonna forget about you. I'm gonna do my thing. Keep my head down, eyes up...' If I do that, whether they want me to fail or not, they have no control over that."

Rice is taking that same, "I'm gonna do my thing" mentality into the recording of his upcoming album. Although his new record has been pushed from an August release date to October, the rising star insists that's only because he wants it to be the best record it can be.

"I'm figuring out how to write, what my style is ... this album's full of my new stuff and my new thoughts," says the "How She Rolls' singer, hinting at an album that will at least be co-written by him. "But at the same time, it's got a couple things that were just written with an acoustic guitar and it kinda brings it back to the traditional. You know, this is country music and it's here to stay."